Lawyer: Jailed US man to be released in Nicaragua

FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2012 file photo, U.S citizen Jason Puracal, left, attends his appeals hearing in handcuffs in Granada, Nicaragua. Puracal, jailed for nearly two years on money-laundering and drug charges in Nicaragua, will be freed after a court unanimously upheld his appeal, his lawyer said Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012. Attorney Fabbrith Gomez said the appeals court vacated the charges against Puracal, 35, of Tacoma, Washington, and ordered him released immediately. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
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FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2012 file photo, U.S citizen Jason Puracal, left, attends his appeals hearing in handcuffs in Granada, Nicaragua. Puracal, jailed for nearly two years on money-laundering and drug charges in Nicaragua, will be freed after a court unanimously upheld his appeal, his lawyer said Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012. Attorney Fabbrith Gomez said the appeals court vacated the charges against Puracal, 35, of Tacoma, Washington, and ordered him released immediately. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
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The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had ruled that Puracal should have been freed because he had not received a fair trial and was arrested illegally in a raid conducted without a warrant.

Puracal's family claimed that he was suffering from unsanitary conditions at La Modelo prison and was denied food, drinking water and medical care. They said he lost more than 40 pounds before he was moved earlier this year to solitary confinement.

The David House Agency helped Puracal's family navigate international justice. Volz, the founder, was convicted in Nicaragua of the 2006 strangling death of his ex-girlfriend but absolved by an appeals court and released from prison.

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Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon reported this story from Mexico City and Luis Manuel Galeano reported in Managua.